Helianthus maximiliani (Narrow-Leaved Sunflower) - photos and description
General: Upright plants, usually single-stemmed. Foliage somewhat greyish-green, with stems rough hairy.
Flowers: Flower heads terminal in a leafy inflorescence. Flower heads measured to 8 cm wide, petals to 3.5 cm long. Central disk light brown, measured to 2 cm diameter. Involucral bracts linear-lanceolate, measured to 15 mm long.
Leaves: Leaves are linear-lanceolate, folded inward lengthwise at the midrib and arching downward at the tip. We measured a leaf at 12 cm long (including petiole) and 12 mm wide (not flattened). Lower leaves have petioles, upper leaves stalkless. Lower leaves opposite, leaves mid-stem opposite or in whorls of 3, upper leaves alternate. Leaf top and bottom with short hairs are rough to touch.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 200cm, we measured plants to 190 cm tall.
Habitat: Moist prairie and roadsides in southern Saskatchewan.
Abundance: Listed as uncommon in Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan.
Origin: Native.
How to identify this species of Helianthus: Readily identified by its leaves - folded inwards and recurved at the tip.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken August 14th and August 15th, in a ditch and on the edge of a slough just outside the city limits of our home in Regina, SK.